Comings And Goings

The Bucs made several signings over the last 24 hours, the most noteworthy being WR Kevin Ogletree who was with the Cowboys. Wait, did I just say that was the most noteworthy? Maybe not as many things happened as I originally thought. But Ogletree has shown flashes here and there and will give Tiquan Underwood a good run for his money. Arrelious Benn is as good as gone and the team is making no effort to re-sign Sammie Stroughter, who is an unrestricted free agent, so the bench was pretty shallow before Ogletree’s signing.

The team also signed LB Jonathan Casillas away from New Orleans. Casillas missed all of 2010 with an injury and hasn’t done a whole lot in his time with the Saints, but he is on the rise and had a great game against the Bucs in 2012. And the Bucs need to bolster their linebacking corps since they released Quincy Black today, too. His arm wasn’t getting any better and it was pretty likely that he wasn’t going to play at a high level again, if at all. So that leaves Mason Foster, Lavonte David, Adam Hayward and Dekoda Watson as the known commodities at linebacker before the Casillas signing. Not the most glitzy name they could have gotten, but I think he’s solid.

And in the “guys who really didn’t have a choice” category, Daniel Te’o-Nesheim and Corvey Irvin both signed their tendered. Irvin I can take or leave, but keeping Te’o-Nesheim is a good move.

Jeremy Trueblood signed with the Redskins today, putting the Redskins at 1st and 15 before the season even starts. Stephen Holder has a few kind words to say about Trueblood and, to be fair, he definitely had some good moments. But his proclivity for false starts and personal fouls at the worst possible moments was infuriating and I will not miss it. DRAFT A RIGHT TACKLE IN THE FIRST ROUND.

Nothing yet has happened with Darrelle Revis, although it is said that the Bucs are the only team seriously interested in trading for him. Supposedly, the dollars are all worked out with Revis, they just need to agree with the Jets on draft compensation. I hear the rumblings that this is a weak draft overall and would be a good year to give up a first-round pick for a known superstar, but that viewpoint ignores the fact that those people are dumb as shit. The #13 slot is still very valuable for several positions, all of which the Bucs can use help with. If they were drafting in the mid-20s and were a cornerback short of a Super Bowl, I’d be more likely to get behind it. But this team is still a couple years from truly competing for a championship. Build up that offensive line, get a franchise tight end (sorry, Luke), get the best corner possible — something other than spending it on a player still getting over an ACL and who is a known locker room problem. I’d also say get another strongside linebacker, but there’s no one worth taking at #13 except maybe Jarvis Jones whose value is all over the board right now.

It’s not quite the haul it was last year, but I’m liking most of the moves I’m seeing from the Bucs.

The dollar amount confuses me because I thought he would command much more. But the coaches have decided they are going to go with Bowers as the starting left end, and Bennett doesn’t want to be a backup.

Bowers played about 1/10 the snaps Bennett did and got 1/3 as many sacks. I’m not heartbroken over him leaving. I’m with ya on trueblood. Constant penalties were frustrating but ill give it to him that he was passionate on the field and always had his teammates backs. I’d hate for that guy to be coming after me. I’d probably end up like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=8kAIFTHAbJ8

I can’t ever remember the dude’s name who replaced Trueblood, which means he wasn’t called for offsides twice a game like his predecessor. At the same time, I do remember the Bucs had a rookie back who ran for about 1,300 yards, and pass protection was pretty decent most of the year.

Honestly, the amounts these guys are getting this year are so low that I’m a little shocked teams like the Bucs aren’t bigger players. Now seems like the time to grab a bunch of high quality players cheap — especially corners, wide receivers and defensive ends. Big names like Revis are great, but I would be focusing on getting top names for the second and third slots right now.